History Fanfic / SamowarInAtlantis

* InVinoVeritas: Irish-Catholic missionary Patricia is this trope after a mere four or five beers at the Peklo in Tel Aviv. Only that way we hear what she really thinks [[{{Oireland}} about her motherlanders]] and that they're at least good [[SeeminglyWholesomeFiftiesGirl for boozing and knocking boots]]. And she also won't consider herself too good to [[CatGirl meow, purr and get her non-existent fur ruffled by Tatjana]] as long as she isn't sober.

* HeroesWantRedheads: Why Björn slept with Natascha in 1993 Judea.

** German has an own short acronym for a bunch of guys sharing a flat, they call it a "WG" or [[GratuitousGerman Wohngemeinschaft]], an issue especially for poor students. While searching for shelter, he used some short-lived shelter of this kind to do so that was rather organized like a firm rather than a [[Film/TheSpanishApartment commune]] because its head (Saskia) dislikes affecting her "business" with [[NotGoodWithPeople all too many unproductive quarrels]]. And [[AuthorAvatar Björn]] loves it that way.

* Björn also sings the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=526ljyfB3IA "Brandenburg" song by Rainald Grebe]], taking FlyoverCountry UpToEleven.

* RantInducingSlight: Even unprovoked, Björn makes it clear that he really hates it to hear his hometown Wismar in Mecklenburg being called part of a ''Dunkeldeutschland'' [[note]]In our world, this ''dark(est) Germany'' is a nickname West Germans apply to UsefulNotes/EastGermany because of their ignorance about it, in this world, it's a label for all the no man's land bordering this world's UsefulNotes/IronCurtain that cut of non-Socialist European Germany from the Atlantic Ocean, a more sinister brand of FlyoverCountry if you want. In both worlds, Wismar would be considered part of both respective brands.[[/note]] and complains about how his place supposedly used to be treated like a contagious disease.

** Effects of [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp local world-shattering events]] on the [[WhyWeAreBummedCommunismFell aftermath]]. You see, here were [[WriterOnBoard Germans on board]].

* YourCheatingHeart: Topper and Tatjana are said to have laid bets on whether Björn and Natascha cheated on their respective significant others with each other as they're all in Southern Bavaria to watch the total solar eclipse of 1999.

* DrinkOrder: If Tatjana orders some nice Budvar (especially for other people) at the Peklo in Tel Aviv, she doesn't say a word, but applies ElectronicTelepathy to the club owner and he knows exactly what she wants.

** German has an own short acronym for a bunch of guys sharing a flat, they call it a "WG" or [[GratuitousGerman Wohngemeinschaft]], an issue especially for poor students. While searching for shelter, he used some short-lived shelter of this kind to do so that was rather organized [[{{Landlord}} like a firm]] rather than a [[Film/TheSpanishApartment commune]] because its head (Saskia) dislikes affecting her "business" with [[NotGoodWithPeople all too many unproductive quarrels]]. And [[AuthorAvatar Björn]] loves it that way.

* YouAreNumberSix: As a legacy of the technocracy, everybody living in Germany has a national personal identity number. Unlike the actual German social security number whose ''format'' this fictional system is pretty much based on, its ''usage'' is much more versatile and pretty much like the system in Sweden where you're essentially screwed without it, even more so than without an SSN in the United States. For people like [[{{Landlord}} Saskia]] who needs to keep track of many former tenants (for deposits and the like), requiring someone to tell their identity number alongside their name is a common practice to fub off imposers.

* SleptThroughTheApocalypse: Björn likes to describe his big after-lay nap with Natascha after their MustNotDieAVirgin moment that way. Maybe he really felt that way, but maybe he [[SquarePegRoundTrope exaggerated a bit]] to put a little more drama to the story. Oh, did we mention that apocalypse was avoided?

* GratuitousGerman: [[CaptainObvious Duh]], we're in Germany in case you forgot.

* AllohistoricalAllusion: In this world, ''Yom haShoah'' stands for the day when TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt nearly happened and was combatted (i.e. the ''Streich''). And Judeans mark it in the same way as real Isrealis do it, a minute of standstill with loud sirenes to commemorate the horror and the salvation from said obstacle.

* InVinoVeritas: Irish-Catholic missionary Patricia is this trope after a mere four or five beers at the Peklo in Tel Aviv. Only that way we hear what she really thinks [[{{Oireland}} about her motherlanders]] and that they're at least good [[SeeminglyWholesomeFiftiesGirl for boozing and knocking boots]]. And she also won't consider herself too good to [[CatGirl meow, purr and get her non-existant fur ruffled by Tatjana]] as long as she isn't sober.

** Bjorn openly admits that a "Battle of Monaco" could have taken place either at the French Riviera or at one of the two German Munichs, one [[YouShouldKnowThisAlready in Bavaria]] and one in our timeline's Iowa.

* MixAndMatchCritter: A French-Canadian gets tricked into chasing a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahu dahu]].

* OvershadowedByAwesome: Björn explicitally states that his really first sex some one or two years before didn't qualify as much as SexAsRiteOfPassage as his affair in Judea. And said affair with Natascha had lesser long-term effects than his encounter with Tatjana.

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: The chapter "Coincidence" describes a [[http://wiki.alternatehistory.com/doku.php/offtopic/double_blind_what_if "double-blind what-if"]] scenario wherein an actual author-mentor experience was detailed: The author of the original timeline (called the mentor here) introduced [[AuthorAppeal an at least once admired, but otherwise obscure singer]] as a #1 star in his timeline that actually existed in reality among otherwise perfectly fictional characters. The author of the fanfic, when writing his fanfic, found a record of said singer at a peddlar's market, right in the city where said singer comes from.

* RippedFromTheHeadlines: Some parts of the story seem to borrow a bit too heavily from RealLife German issues. What about a BuryYourGays-wannabe county marshall or the "swarm in the heads"?

* TheyKilledKenny: Discussed and inverted. Björn explains that some Kenny at least temporarily killed his favorite band (Kerrygold[[note]]like a German brand of Irish butter[[/note]]) by his exit. Because in the promised land of Irish Australia, Kenny kills you!

** Björn lies about "no longer knowing what title the book was" that he read. Actually it's a form of justified ExecutiveMeddling because the book is NauseaFuel and it's still implied. [[note]]In one version of the script, the book was supposed to be named ''Meadows Of Swampland'' by Karolin Roscher, which is a lot like its RealLife counterpart ''Wetlands'' by Charlotte Roche. [[{{Squick}} Nuff said]].[[/note]]

* "Fearless traveler" Filip Desastre in a book called [[{{Ruritania}} "Molvistan"]] is a reference to Philippe Miseree from the book ''[[Literature/JetlagTravelGuides Molvania: A Land Untouched By Modern Dentistry]]''.

* "Fearless traveler" Filip Desastre in a book called "Molvistan" is a reference to Philippe Miseree from the book ''[[{{Ruritania}} Molvania: A Land Untouched By Modern Dentistry]]''.

* Björn rants about someone destroying his favorite band by leaving it on [[Music/TakeThat July 17th, 1995]].

* RantInducingSlight: Even unprovoked, Björn makes it clear that he really hates it to hear his hometown Wismar in Mecklenburg being called part of a ''Dunkeldeutschland'' [[note]]In our world, this ''dark(est) Germany'' is a nickname West Germans apply to EastGermany because of their ignorance about it, in this world, it's a label for all the no man's land bordering this world's UsefulNotes/IronCurtain that cut of non-Socialist European Germany from the Atlantic Ocean, a more sinister brand of FlyoverCountry if you want. In both worlds, Wismar would be considered part of both respective brands.[[/note]] and complains about how his place supposedly used to be treated like a contagious disease.

* Björn explains his choice for university to study BA with the desire to have a "bill to clean his dirty coat with". Such a bill, a so-called ''Persilschein'' [[note]]"Persil" is Germany's biggest laundry detergent[[/note]], was a literal carte blanche in the denazification process in Germany after WorldWarII proving you didn't play an active role in the atrocities of ThoseWackyNazis.

* NewYearHasCome: and been celebrated in [[TheMall Dominikaner-Arkaden]] of [[TheWindyCity Wildenhartburg]].

* And yes, it's hard to hook somebody up, even if you're a girl. On the other hand, not every girl is a [[JerseyShore gremlin like Snooki]], you know?

* It was 1993, Björn was caught somewhere between boy and man, she was seventeen and far from in-between, it was summer time in... nope, [[KidRock not Northern Michigan]], but Tel Aviv will do as well.

* SlidingScaleOfGenderInequality: Somewhere between levels 5 and 6. Björn got hooked up in Judea by a three years older girl[[spoiler:, being nobody else than the cousin of the female mutinist number 1,]] and loved it. Björn's first host in Atlantis also was a girl and would later provide him with crucial information. And his girlfriend Rosi beats the crap out of her father whenever she deems it necessary. The girls in this world seem pretty dangerous and no longer in need [[GirlsNeedRoleModels of such a thing as role models]].

* There's also a reference to a German ''BigBrother'' season back in late 2000, by Mike Krüger in ''7 Tage - 7 Köpfe'':

Four years after writing for the AlternateHistory Literature/ChaosTimeline ended, another [[@/DrNodelescu German reader]] from AlternateHistoryDotCom came to abuse its world as a playground to poach around in it as he found it easier and more exciting than [[SelfDeprecation writing a timeline on his own]]. It ended as a 30-pager with the title "Samowar In Atlantis" which in the meantime has extended beyond its initial scope.

If you want to [[http://www.alternatehistory.com/Discussion/showthread.php?t=191348 read the story]] in total at AlternateHistoryDotCom, you have to be logged in at the forum as a registered member. [[EarnYourHappyEnding Don't blame us, blame the board!]]

* Björn also has a college classmate whose name is [[AceOfBase Ulf Ekberg]].

** German has an own short acronym for a bunch of guys sharing a flat, they call it a "WG" or [[GratuitousGerman Wohngemeinschaft]], an issue especially for poor students. While searching for shelter, he used some short-lived shelter of this kind to do so that was rather organized [[{{Landlord}} like a firm]] rather than a [[Film/TheSpanishInn commune]] because its head (Saskia) dislikes affecting her "business" with [[NotGoodWithPeople all too many unproductive quarrels]]. And [[AuthorAvatar Björn]] loves it that way.

* ComingOfAgeStory: Deconstructed at least for Björn. The childhood part is lacking altogether. SexAsARiteOfPassage is subverted to hell and back. 1993 Judea are only a pre-course to his subsequent encounters in Europe, let alone his studies in Atlantis a couple of years later. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking And it stretches a whole decade]]. Also see OvershadowedByAwesome.

* RantInducingSlight: Even unprovoked, Björn makes it clear that he really hates it to hear his hometown Wismar in Mecklenburg being called part of a ''Dunkeldeutschland'' [[note]]In our world, this ''dark(est) Germany'' is a nickname West Germans apply to EastGermany because of their ignorance about it, in this world, it's a label for all the no man's land bordering this world's IronCurtain that cut of non-Socialist European Germany from the Atlantic Ocean, a more sinister brand of FlyoverCountry if you want. In both worlds, Wismar would be considered part of both respective brands.[[/note]] and complains about how his place supposedly used to be treated like a contagious disease.

** This is later subverted with the Nipponese intestinal cancer patient in Fort Knox whose [[RuthlessModernPirates personal context]] provides a [[ShellShockedSenior literal understanding]] of its metaphor as he was a [[AddedAlliterativeAppeal chin-chin]] [[GroinAttack chopper]].

* Björn goes completely [[ToGetRichIsGlorious Deng Xiaoping]] when he states that it didn't matter if the cat were black or white, so long it catches mice. In fact, it's a centuries-old proverb from the Chinese Sichuan province where Deng hailed from.

** German has an own short acronym for a bunch of guys sharing a flat, they call it a "WG" or [[GratuitousGerman Wohngemeinschaft]], an issue especially for poor students. While searching for shelter, he used some short-lived shelter of this kind to do so that was rather organized [[{{Landlord}} like a firm]] rather than a [[TheSpanishInn commune]] because its head (Saskia) dislikes affecting her "business" with [[NotGoodWithPeople all too many unproductive quarrels]]. And [[AuthorAvatar Björn]] loves it that way.